Longoria plates game-winner as Rays top Orioles

May 25, 2008 - 10:08 PM
ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) -- On Saturday, Evan Longoria
did all his damage early. On Sunday, the rookie delivered late.

Longoria's RBI double with one out in the bottom of the ninth
inning lifted the red-hot Tampa Bay Rays past the Baltimore
Orioles, 5-4, on Sunday.

The Rays completed a three-game sweep of the Orioles and
improved to 15-1 in their last 16 home games. The Rays also are
13-4 in their past 17 games overall.

Longoria's game-winning hit came a day after he homered in his
first two at-bats, setting career highs with two home runs and
six RBI in Saturday's 11-4 win.

"He's good and he keeps getting better," Tampa Bay manager Joe
Maddon said. "He's building his confidence right now."

Carlos Pena, who homered in the third, drew a one-out walk off
George Sherrill (1-1) in the ninth. Longoria followed with a
double in the right-center field gap, easily scoring Pena.

"You don't want to get too anxious," said Pena, who walked three
times. "The tendency is to get too excited to try and hit a
home run. You let the walk happen and the next thing you know,
Longoria has a big hit and we win the ball game.

"This kid is very talented. He's a great hitter. A great
ballplayer."

Longoria is hitting .351 (13-for-37) in his last nine games.

"I love being in that situation," Longoria said. "I'm looking
forward to getting up there and helping the team with the game."

The Orioles, who rallied from a 4-1 deficit, lost a season
high-tying fifth consecutive game and fell into the American
League East cellar for the first time this year.

"You have to give the Rays a lot of credit, they found a way to
win," Baltimore manager Dave Trembley said. "They played real
good baseball the entire series. They got real good starting
pitching, they had timely hitting."

Making his 21st appearance of the season, Troy Percival (1-0)
got his first victory of the campaign by recording the final two
outs in the ninth.

In his second-shortest outing of the season, Daniel Cabrera
allowed nine hits and four runs in 5 2/3 innings, walking six
and striking out one. Cabrera had won his last three starts but
did not figure in the decision Sunday.

"My control was not there today," Cabrera said. "I was taking a
lot of time behind those hitters. When you are behind that is
what you get. They will hit the ball."

James Shields allowed eight hits and four runs - three earned -
with one walk and three strikeouts in eight innings.

"I'm just glad I got to keep them in the game as long as I did
and these guys came through," Shields said.

Ramon Hernandez's second-inning RBI single gave the Orioles a
1-0 lead.

The Rays responded with four runs in the third on Pena's two-run
home run, Eric Hinske's RBI single and Dioner Navarro's RBI
double.

"I had a 3-0 count and got a pitch I could handle," said Pena,
who has five hits in his last seven at-bats. "I hit it the
other way. That's what you want to do."

In the fifth, Adam Jones' RBI double pulled the Orioles within
4-2.

Brian Roberts led off the sixth with a triple and scored on
Melvin Mora's single. After a double-play groundout by Nick
Markakis, Aubrey Huff tied the game with a solo home run.

The game remained tied until Sherrill allowed the game-winning
hit to Longoria.

"It was just bad pitches," Sherrill said. "I was ahead and
didn't end up putting him away, so that's what you get."